8 Tasting Notes

This was my first real sencha, so I can’t compare it to others but I can say it was quite good. I got four good infusions out of it (60s, 20s, 30s, 60s). All were pretty consistent, although 2 and 3 had a stronger flavor than 1 and 4. This was also my first order with Den’s, and they sent me all kinds of tea catalogs and brochures and information. Very nice.

Did I do something wrong? I did the standard teaspoon, boiling, 5 minutes. The result was much lighter than I expected, and the tea seemed a bit watery. I caught only hints of the meaty taste that I was expecting. Maybe I’ve just been drinking too many strong blacks.

Preparation

This was my first time trying this variety of tea. The dry leaves looked quite green, so I was afraid to use boiling water and did the first infusion for 4 minutes at 190F. The result was light and definitely floral. There was none of the bitter or toasty or buttery flavors others have noted, just floral. Almost like a jasmine oolong, except much lighter. The leaves hadn’t opened up at all after this, so I decided to do the second with boiling water for 5 minutes. This came out much better. The leaves opened up completely; there was even an complete, full leaf in there. The tea was stronger, and still floral but definitely had some of the toasty/buttery flavor. I did boiling water for 7 minutes for the third infusion and it came out much like the first. I wanted to try one more, so I did boiling water for 10 minutes, and it actually came out a little better than the previous.

Next time I make this, I’m going to try using a bit more dry leaf and boiling water for all infusions (possibly starting with a rinse). I’d like to see at least two full-flavored infusions.

It’s good, although not as good as I was expecting. I steep it for 8 or 9 minutes and add just a pinch of sugar. Cinnamon is definitely the strongest flavor. Apple is there, although it tastes a bit artificial.